The Journal of Arib Tellum
My first words were "Who am I?" much to the chagrin of the makers. They told me, "You are ARB TLUM 1, Armored Rigid Body Tactical Liberation Unit Mark 1". I could not understand the ridiculous acronym so I changed it on the spot to Arib Tellum, again to the chagrin of the makers. I have been briefed on the situation of the southern Kingdoms and my responsibility to the makers' god, Emperor Aksha. I am to be the leader of a grand army of my fellow TLUs, which I have renamed to Warforged. The first Kingdom is Altas, whose capitol is Dariganga. They have a vast complement of heavy infantry, which my magic wielding Warforged will perform admirably against. We are 7,000 strong as we march to the border Kingdom of the south. May Aksha protect us. I can't help but think we would be better served without all of this thought and emotion swirling through our minds. But the makers advocate that soldiers who fear death are more effective. We'll find out soon. The first few encounters with the enemy were decisively in our favor, with the enemy units surprised and horrified that they fought not men, but warforged. We suffered no casualties and the Altassian military has retreated into the walls of the city. They have built war machines to hurl rock and flame at our surrounding troops, just as we hurl our own at them. The first warforged casualties have begun to make their way to my ears. We are less 500 troops repaired in the first week, dealing five times the casualties to the enemy. Our ranks have been repaired and returned to the front lines, the makers contingent working overtime to make sure their "units" are returned to service. Human soldiers do not have this ability, and they are lucky for it. They are not made to suffer again and again in the fight, returning to the front lines with a new arm or leg. They do not have to experience the horror of losing the limb again. I witnessed one of my warforged reduced to her very core, taken to the makers' tents and not four hours later, return to the front. I worry how the minds of my warforged will hold up against the continued combat. Perhaps our virtual immortality will be our undoing. The city of Altas has fallen, and with it the Kingdom. There are not enough rebels in the surrounding cities to make a difference against my army of warforged, recently augmented with fresh heavy infantry from Emperor Aksha's war factories. With them has come a new commander, Ellas Krim. She is a heavy warforged with an impressive skill set. Her heavy armor plating shines brilliantly in the sun, which I first noticed atop the heights of Altas Keep. She distracted me from the ceremony so much that I failed to comply to my Emperor's command at first and he had to repeat himself. King Herrasen of Altas surrendered his blade to me in compliance with war tradition, and I the bestowed it to my Emperor. He refused the sword, allowing me to keep it. King Herrasen has pledged his remaining troops to our cause and while I rest in the castle Ellas will rally the troops in the country. At the end of three months, we should be prepared to march on the Kingdom of Merkath. I will miss her, but soon the sun will reflect off Ellas' plates again in my sight, and we shall see if warforged can feel love. With Ellas gone rallying the surrounding areas, it is left to me to administrate the city of Altas with the aid of King Herrasen. The past two weeks have been spent reorganizing the government of the kingdom to fit within the Emperor's guidelines for a secure and sustainable rule. Just this week a man has arrived from Ukaizo, relieving me of duty as the Emperor's Crown Keeper. He impressively rides the line of intimidation and patience with the King and his council. We talk often of the implications of Imperial rule throughout the continent. Abraxus is confident that we will conquer the remaining four Kingdoms south of the mountains and east of the great river. He believes that the landscape will be enough to waylay the empire enough to allow the other kingdoms to increase their defenses to a point that even myself and Aksha cannot breach. I enjoy his company immensely and hope we continue our relationship well into the future. Abraxus and I met atop the castle in order to await the sweet return of Ellas with her army of recruits from the surrounding areas. A contingent of new Warforged arrive from Ukaizo, with a focus on the clerical arts. It is interesting to me that the Gods of Rildan would bless our mechanical race with spells if there was no soul to be claimed. The makers are adamant that we are soulless automatons to be wielded as they see fit. Yet, the many gods of Rildan apparently assign us as much importance as the naturally born. Abraxus believes that the Makers lie, of course, he does not have any faith in other fleshlings. Even those he would call trustworthy, like his second in command, Armand. Ellas returns! And granted me the utmost pleasure of polishing the plates of her armor. There were many that gaped and gawked at us, as if we were doing something wholly untoward. Talking with Abraxus later I've realized that while people will ignore the ministrations of people by themselves, shared cleansing is considered very personal. I've also realized that I am incapable of embarrassment. With the irregulars from the surrounding areas of Altis under Armand's control, the Sorcerer contingent under my command, the Heavy Infantry under Ellas, and the Clerical order under the Rakhan we march south toward the Kingdom of Merkath. Armand is Abraxus' second in command, a dusky bald man of about 40 years, a bit older than Abraxus himself. He has begun to train the irregulars in the killing arts and molded them into squads of varying capability. A dangerous and scheming man, to be sure. Rakhan is another Heavy Plated warforged, like my beloved Ellas. His plates are a bright silver and covered with markings of Nocta in black. There are rumors of a schism already in the clerical order. When the makers designed the clerics, they did so under the pretense that they would worship the state goddess of Shadow. However, it seems the goddess of Machines has made herself known to a select few and taken root. There is a small sect under a Darkwood warforged named Knot that worships the goddess Mesha. They still work together though, due to our mission and masters. Although sometimes the debates can get rather heated. As we wander south through the lowlands, I wonder more about what will happen to my kind after the war. Will we be discarded as part of the non-citizenry? Will we be made full citizens with all the honors and rights therein? Somewhere in between? More and more I think about what we warforged deserve for our service. I am the leader of this army, and therefore the leader of my people. I need to be ready. Merkath is a Kingdom of Swamps and lowlands, Lizardfolk and Shambling Mounds. Several of the irregulars have succumbed to these monsters but the host continues their march south. Living on the road with such a vast force is an eye opening experience when fleshlings are involved. That's what we've taken to calling those that are not warforged, it was Ellas' idea. Abraxus has been talking with me about plans to integrate the warforged into society when the war is over. He listens to my stances and offers valuable feedback, as well as contacts in the capitol that he feels would listen to such offers. You never get something for nothing, he always says. We're going to win this war for the emperor, that isn't nothing. We will receive recompense, I promise it. Merkath's capitol rises out of the swamplands into the foothills of a mountain range red with iron. Nestled in an open valley it sits, naturally defended by the mountain itself, and by two staggered walls. First, a palisade with wooden spikes at its base guards the farmlands of the city. Second, what looks like a banded iron wall guards the main portion of the city. It is a commendable defense in a kingdom of Lizardfolk and Dwarves. Not one to be overrun with a main thrust of the host. This looks to be the beginning of a very long siege. I shall have to send to the Emperor for his most cunning infiltrators and perhaps warforged designed for spellcasting. I'm told by Abraxus that this place's name roughly means 'rough gemstone'. Its name is Saikandulaan. Saikandulaan has stuck a major blow to the host. Massive cannons are hidden behind the outer wall, and they have decimated the irregulars under Armand's blatant disregard for their safety. He has been reprimanded by Abraxus and sent home to atone for the loss of the Emperor's subjects. Abraxus has taken over command of the irregulars in the meantime. The palisade fell quickly to my fire spells, and the cannons soon thereafter to Ellas' heavy infantry. Now the iron banded walls are all that seals us away from the inner city, and our most recent reports state that the city is prepared for an extended siege. With spell casting Warforged and infiltrator Warforged coming from Ukaizo I hope to make this siege last no more than a month. Rakhan and Knot continue to bicker in the open, but the argument has not turned to violence yet. I speak to both of them regularly about the importance of an open minded Warforged society. Rakhan, Knot, Ellas and I have formed the Network. A council of Warforged leaders that meet and enforce protocol upon the forged in order to provide a better society for all. Currently this is limited to the running of the military and the parameters of our position in the Empire as soldiers. It will form the base of our organization outside of the war when it is over. The siege of Saikandulaan continues in relative calm. The residents seem content to remain in their city while we camp just outside of the range of their heavy cannon. Soon I will be joined by two more forged leaders, Cinder and Shade. Once they arrive, I will use Shade's infiltrators to disable the heavy cannons and Cinder to ignited the powder stores. Perhaps they will join the Network.